Account-sheet.



No. 723,117. PATENTED MAR. 17, 1903.

R. G. WOODWARD.

ACCOUNT SHEET.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 13, 1902. 110 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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PATENTED MAR. 17,1903.

R. WOODWARD. AGGOUNT SHEET.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. is. 1902.

WITNESSES ATTOH //v VEN 70/? f NITED STATE ATENT FFICE.

ACCOUNT-SHEET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 723,117, dated March 17, 1903.

Application filed January 13, 1902. Serial No. 89,482. (No model.)

- To all whom it may concern:

exact description.

The invention relates to bookkeeping; and its object is to provide new and improved account-sheets designed as an auxiliary to the present means of keeping books and arranged to enable the proprietor orhead of a business house to ascertain the profit or loss at the close of each days business withoutresorting to'intricate bookkeeping or having knowledge of bookkeepingand without disclosing to the chiefs of departments the state of the business.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations of the same, as will be more fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in. the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all of the views.

Figure l is a face view of the daily recordsheet arranged for hotels; and Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are similar views of the daily departmentsheets ofv the several departments.

The account-sheets consist, essentially, of a daily record or balance sheet 0 (shown in Fig. 1) and a plurality of daily departmentsheets, such as D, D, and D (Illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, and 4.) The daily record-sheet C has an upper portion 0, devoted to expense and income, anda lower portion 0 containing assets and liabilities, and the said sheet is provided at the left-hand side with a subject matter column E for containing the names of the different subjects for which the accountsheets are used. Adjacent to the column E is an identification-column F, containing identification-signs for the individual subjectmatter in the column E, the said signs being, preferably, sets of consecutive numerals-that is, the set of numerals for the upper portion 0 being, preferably, the consecutive numerals from 1 up to, say, 26,

and the set of numerals for the lower portion C being the consecutive numerals from 51 up to, say, 66, as indicated in Fig. 1.

7 Next to the identification-column F on the sheet C is arranged a double column G, havingheadiugs marked Aand in both the upper and lower portions G and C of the sheet 0, and above the heading for the upper portion is marked the name of the day of the week. A series of such double columns G are arranged one alongside the other to provide a double column G for each day of the week, and-next to the double column Got the last day in the week is arranged a Weekly total-column H. In the double column G are noted the amounts gathered from the sheets D D D as hereinafter more fully explained, it being understood, however, that in the column A of the upper portion 0 are placed the expense amounts, and in the column Bof the upper portion are placed the income amounts, while in the column A of the lower portion 0 are set the asset amounts,

l and the column B of the lower portion receives the liability amounts.

Each sheet D, D, and D has a general heading indicating the department in which it is used, and each of the said sheets D, D, and D is provided with a subject-matter column I, identification-columns J J, and amountscolumns -K K, one for each identificationcolumn J or J.

The subject-matter in the column I of the several sheets D, D, and D is found in the subject-matter column E of the record-sheet 0. Each column J J contains for each subject in the column I a numeral corresponding to the numeral for the same subject in the identification-column F of the sheet 0, and

in each column J J is also found next to the numeral the heading A or B, according to the corresponding heading in the column G.

Now each chief or headof a department at the close of a days business fills in the total amounts of the transactions of the day in the columns K and K in register with the corresponding subject-matter in the column I and in register with the corresponding signs in the columns J J. departments are transmitted to the .head of the house and the various amounts contained in the columns K and K are transferred to The sheets from the different the double columns G in register with the corresponding subject-matter. Thus, for instance, on sheet D the column I shows General store-room, food supplies, and in the column J, corresponding to this, is found A 55, and corresponding to this is found 6112.15 in column K. The amount 6112.15 is entered in column G under A next to the numeral in column F. The next following amount 2222.16 in column K is entered in column G under the heading A adjacent to numeral 56, and the various amounts thus found in column K are entered correspondingly on sheet 0. In a like manner the amounts in column K are entered according to the signs in the adjacentcolumn J. For instance, the amount 3214.75 is entered in column B, corresponding to numeral 52, as will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 1.

The first item, 321.25, in column K on sheet D- is entered in column G of sheet 0 under the heading A adjacentto numeral 6, and the other amounts on the said sheet D are correspondingly entered, the same as those from sheet D, above explained, and in a like manner the amounts on the remaining sheet or sheets D are likewise entered on sheet 0. Thus sheet 0 contains in column G the total amounts of the various subjectmatters in the different departments, and by adding up the amounts in the upper and lower portions 0 and O the head of the house can immediately find whether he had been working with profit or loss during the day.

It is understood that only a few of the department-sheets of a hotel are shown in the drawings, as it is not deemed necessary to illustrate the sheet for each department, as they are all on the same plan, as shown and described, and only the generaldepartmentheadings and the names in columns I vary. Thus for a hotel, for instance, a departmentsheet containing the daily report of timekeeper and paymaster is used, another by the check-controller, another by the front bookkeeper and cashier, one by the housekeeper, one by the room-clerk, one by the stewarts and receiving-departments, &c.

In practice each chief or head of a department keeps a duplicate copy of the sheet sent to the head of the house for convenient verification in case it is necessary.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by the arrangement described it requires no special knowledge of bookkeeping to obtain the desired result, and the head of the house is so well informed of what his subordinates are doing that he can regulate his business accordingly and gradually adjust expenditures to earnings. It will also be seen that the chief of one department is ignorant of the matter contained in the sheet of another department; but as the record-sheet C shows balancing-totals in the column G it is evident that each department acts as a check on the other.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. Account-sheets, comprising a daily record-sheet having an expense and income portion, and an asset and liability portion, each portion being provided with a subject-platter column,an identification-column having signs for the individual subject-matter of the subject-matter'column, and a double-amount column, each portion thereof, havinga symbolical heading, and a plurality of daily department-sheets, each having a subject-matter column, identification-columns having identification-signs correspondingto the signs of the identification-column of the daily record-sheet and adjacent to each sign a symbol corresponding to the one of the headings of the double column of the said daily recordsheet, and an amount-column for-each identification-column, as set forth.

2. In an accounting system, the combination of adaily record-sheethaving an expense and income portion and an asset and liability portion, each portion being provided with a.

subject-matter column, an identification-column having signs for the individual subjectmatter of the subject-matter column, a double column, one for each day of a week, each double column having symbolical headings for the upper and lower portions thereof, the upper portion of the double column being adapted to receive expense and income amounts and the lower portion to receive the asset and liability amounts, and a weekly total-column, and a plurality of daily department-sheets, each having a subject-matter column, identification-column having identification-signs corresponding to the signs of the identification-column of the daily recordsheet and a symbol corresponding to one of the headings of the double column of the said daily record-sheet, and an amount-column for each identification-column, as set forth.

3. In an accounting system, the combination of a daily record-sheet having a subjectmatter column, a column of identificationsigns, and columns each having a symbolical heading, and a plurality of daily departmentsheets, each havinga subject-matter column, amount columns, and a column for each amount-column and containing the signs and headings corresponding to the signs and headings of the record-sheet, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT GRAHAM WOODWARD.

Witnesses:

'lHEo. G. HosTER, EVERARD BOLTON MARSHALL. 

